IceWing Battle :)
by Ivypool2005
Summary: This is a story about the "IceWing tragedy" loooooong ago. I know that the real tragedy was the Prince Arctic thing but I started the story before Winter Turning came out. This is my first story so it may not be that good but no hate.


It wasn't every day that a NightWing swooped down on you. Crystal looked up, startled. He looked like a black shadow against the cold, pale sky. She glared up at him indignantly. _What are you doing here? Get out of our territory!_ she thought as loud as she could, hoping that he heard her – and he did.

The dragon's head snapped in her direction, his eyes narrowed into slits. Even though she had no powers, she knew what he was thinking. She was an easy target, a dragonet out hunting seemingly all alone, miles away from the palace. He could kill her and be on their way. Knowing NightWings, he probably would, just for getting in his way.

"NIGHTWING INVASION! NIGHTWING INVASION!" Crystal yelled. The NightWing looked as surprised as she was, but it only lasted a moment. He snickered. "Do you really think your IceWing friends are just going to pop out of the snow to come save you? Face it. Nobody cares about you."

"Oh, really?"

IceWings burst out of the snow around them. Snarling, they formed a semicircle around Crystal. The NightWing backed away, now terrified. "Do you really think that badly of IceWings?"

"W-what do you mean?"

"Queen Hailstone wouldn't send a dragonet on a mission far away without backup. Especially if that dragonet was her _daughter_."

Even though he had powers, he was only a few years older than Crystal and his flying skills were no match for four full-grown dragons - and one angry princess. He didn't struggle as they held him to the snow. Crystal didn't blink an eye as she slit his throat. His body went limp and something fell out of one of his talons. It was a scrap of paper with the words,

DEAR QUEEN HAILSTONE, WE ARE SORRY WE STOLE THAT SEAL. IT WAS A LONG TIME AGO AND WE SHOULD MAKE UP. WE SHOULD NOT HAVE A WAR OVER ONE SEAL. WE ARE ASKING FOR PEACE. SINCERELY, QUEEN FIERCESIGHT

P.S. IT WAS ON OUR TERRITORY, THOUGH.

Crystal sniffed and turned away. She gestured with her tail for her bodyguards to follow, but none of them moved. They were sitting in silence around the NightWing. Every single one of them had the same shocked expression. They seemed to feel _bad_ for the dragon. A few of them were even crying. _What a bunch of scaredy-cats,_ Crystal thought, rolling her eyes. "Get a move on, people!" And with that, they headed back to the castle.

"WHAT DID YOU SAY?"

Iceberg ducked his head. He was the youngest and the smallest, so the job of telling bad news was always dumped on him. He supposed that he should be used to it by now, but Queen Hailstone was one of the most intimidating dragons he'd ever met. Right now, she was glaring at him almost hard enough to knock him over. "I – I said – there was a dragon – NightWing – message – and Crystal – he's –"

"I know what you said, idiot! Now get out of here before I start throwing things!" Iceberg opened his mouth to reply, but decided against it. The queen looked about as angry as a polar bear on a volcano. "Well, what are you waiting for? GO!" Iceberg rushed out of the room as fast as he could. He took to the air and flew until there were no other dragons in sight. He lay down in the snow, letting everything that had just happened sink in. He was relieved that the queen hadn't killed him. He was confused; what was going to happen when their messenger didn't return? But most of all, he was frightened. What would Hailstorm do when she found out who really killed the NightWing? The thoughts swirled around in his head until they mixed up and jumbled into darkness.

Iceberg woke to the sound of fighting dragons. At first, he thought he was still dreaming and closed his eyes again. But when he'd closed his eyes for ten minutes and the sound was still there, he sat up and blinked the sleep out of his eyes. What was going on? Suddenly, the events of yesterday came back to him. He jumped up and flew towards the sound. To his horror, it was coming from the direction of the palace. He finally reached the battle. He was too high up to see clearly, but the one thing that was clear was the mass of black scales pressing forward, into the palace.

Iceberg's ice-colored scales blended in with the snow, so none of the NightWings saw him approaching from behind. They assumed that everyone had been there when the battle started; all the ice dragons were either scattered on the bloodstained ground outside the palace, or trapped inside. In either situation, you were dead or about to be. However, some of his IceWing friends spotted him. They had been trained to find others hidden in the snow. Seeing Iceberg seemed to give them an extra burst of energy, and a few were able to make it to the other side of the black. Slowly, the other dragons noticed them. Many tried to fly over, and many failed, but soon there were as many IceWings outside the palace as inside. The only problem was that because of those many failures, they were outnumbered almost ten to one. Each IceWing fought their hardest that day, but it's really hard to win a battle against ten other dragons who also happen to have mind reading powers. Try it.

The NightWings overpowered the remaining dragons and brought them to the City of Night, where they experimented on their frostbreath like they will later do with RainWing venom (see _The Hidden Kingdom_ ). Queen Hailstone and Princess Crystal were both killed, leaving no heir to the throne. Things were looking bad for the IceWings. This is where we will start.

They had been planning their escape for months, but Chill wasn't allowed to plan with them. Of course. She could hear them whispering to each other from her cell, but no one ever asked _her_ opinion. Whenever she asked if she could help, it was always the same answer: "You're too little." It infuriated her! She was four years old! She was old enough to help the big dragons. But no, she was "too little." Penguin was allowed to help and she was only five! A few of the oldest dragons whose frostbreath was stronger were able to freeze off their binds and escape already. More dragons were escaping every day, while Chill and the other "little" dragonets were stuck in the NightWing prison, and there was more security every time a dragon escaped! You could barely see her blue-silver scales through all the binding, and no one could get out or in without a magnetic security tag. Now that she thought about it, with the new security, there had been no escapes for a few weeks. She wanted to shout at the big dragons. What kind of a plan was this? Escape by yourself and leave the little ones behind? Chill wished that stupid Crystal had never killed that dragon. She wished for the cold, crisp air in the Ice Kingdom. She wished for snow and ice, and for the big dragons to come back and free them. She wished that her parents hadn't been killed in the battle.

Chill woke up to a spear prodding her. She blinked the sleep out of her eyes. She hadn't meant to go to sleep. She had thought and thought about how to get out, but she couldn't think of anything. She wondered why they woke her up so early. Suddenly, something came to her. It was her fifth hatching day! Maybe the big dragons would let her help now! But that still didn't answer her question. _Oh, no._ She remembered something else. On Penguin's sixth hatching day, they'd taken him into the lab for frostbreath tests. They said it was to see if he was any stronger. On Walrus's twentieth hatching day, they did the same. She ran the list through her mind: Penguin, Walrus, Icicle(I), Glacier(also I), Snowstorm. Penguin, Walrus, Icicle, Glacier, Snowstorm. _Uh-oh!_ She jolted up – well, she tried to, but the guard held her back. She just thought they'd escaped with the rest, but no. They all disappeared on their hatching days.

Starseer was born under three full moons. He was more powerful than any other dragon in the City of Night, and to top it off, he was an animus as well. He could see the future and see far into the past, when scavengers trained dragons like dogs and rode them like horses. Others were amazed at his power, but he was overwhelmed. He was only seven years old, but sometimes dragons expected him to act much older. All he wanted was to play with the other dragonets and live a normal life. But his life was the opposite of normal.

"Come on, Starseer! Get up! There's a frostbreath experiment in five minutes and then you have a private audience with the queen, and then you have a prophecy to deliver, and then-"

"I'm up, I'm up!" Starseer rolled over with a yawn. He rolled over again and the rock ledge where he slept disappeared from under him. "Aaaaaaahh!" He landed painfully on one wing. " _Now_ I'm up," he muttered under his breath. He groaned and pushed himself up onto his feet.

Starseer didn't like experimenting on dragonets. At first it was okay, just every once in a while, but now there were only dragonets left. He sighed. It was going to be a long day.

When he walked into the lab, there was a dragonet waiting for him. A guard handed him a slip of paper with her information. He scanned the sheet, looking for anything unusual. He smiled when he saw that it was her hatching day. Those subjects tended to behave interestingly.

A NightWing named Shadowwalker crept into the room silently. He handed Starseer a spear. Chill watched nervously as he walked towards her slowly with the spear pointed in front of him. It latched into the hole in the band on her mouth and the band popped off. _I suppose he's going to ask me to do something now_ , Starseer heard. He stepped forward until their snouts almost touched. The guards all left the room. It was custom for the prisoner to get a sentence of advice from Starseer, who knew the best future for them, before their release.

Usually he would say just a few mystic words, like "don't eat the first polar bear you see" or "your brother loves you, he just doesn't want to say so." But Chill had given him a feeling he'd never had before. He knew he couldn't keep her here, so he did the next best thing.

"Go home. Get allies from different tribes and in two months exactly, come back and you will claim the IceWings back from the NightWings. Don't be afraid. You will succeed if you believe in yourself and the other tribes."

 _What? Is he trying to trick me? What's happening?_

"I'm not trying to trick you! Go, leave now, before it's too late!" And without another word, Chill flew out the door, back to the Ice Kingdom.

The guards reentered the cave. They all went their separate ways, but before Starseer left, he turned back. "Shadowwalker?"

"Yeah?"

"If you ever have a great-great-great-great great-great-great-great great-great-great-great great-great-great-great great-great-great-great great-great-great-great great-great-great-great great-great-great-great great-great-great-great grandson, make sure he's not named Darkstalker."


End file.
